The Bone and the Clock
by Slenderbrine
Summary: A bone and a clock walked into a bar. The bone said, "TIBIA honest, this joke sucks." The clock said, "I SECOND that." Rated T because I'm paranoid :D
**The Bone and the Clock**

Two figures stood in a great hall, big enough to fit the tallest of men and have room to spare. Artificial sunlight filtered through stained glass windows onto the two at the end of the hall. The first of the two was a living animation of bones, wearing a blue hoodie over a white shirt, black shorts, and slippers. His left eye glowed bright blue, with cyan vapor steaming from the socket. The monster was tired, sweat dripping off of his skull from Gaster knows where.

The second figure was much worse for wear. She was a human, maybe ten or eleven, lying on the ground. Blue bones erected themselves through the human's arms and legs, a large white bone sticking through her chest. The human's previously turquoise-and-purple sweater was almost completely dyed red with her own blood. Small cuts littered her body, and one of her feet was smoking from its burn. The brown-haired child tried to raise her knife a final time, before her arm couldn't take the effort and collapsed on itself.

" **geeeeeeet dunked on, kid,** " the skeleton said. He watched as the human's soul floated upwards. For a single split-second, The blue hoodie-wearing skeleton, Sans, swore he saw the word "True Reset" glow in bright yellow letters, before watching with satisfaction as the red heart snapped in half. The human's body began spamming violently, as it quickly crumbled to dust.

Sans felt a smirk crawl onto his face, though his ever-smiling face didn't change much.

' _Come,'_ something said. There was no sound, but the word still managed to make a tremor beneath the skeleton's feet.

" **woah, wait a sec,** " Sans muttered. His normally white eyes scanned the room, his left eye flashing light blue every so often. Sans' eyes widened in surprise when he felt the hard tile of the palace hallway beneath his black sneakers disappear.

" _ **!?**_ " Sans gave out a cry of shock as he fell and closed his eyes. He felt the oddest chilling sensation, one that worked up his spine from tailbone to skull, as he fell through. Sans groaned in annoyance and pain as he landed on a different floor. The skeleton opened his eyes and looked up to watch a swirling green vortex blink out of existence.

" **huh? where am i?** " Sans questioned aloud. Wherever he was, it was weird. Sans stood in an enormous room full of gears. Gears, rods, and even what looked like clock faces dotted the room. Sans was used to seeing strange things, so the obviously clock-themed room wasn't what set him off.

It was the fact everything was green. _Everything_.

The walls were grass green. The roof was camouflage dark green. The floor was radioactive green. Everything was green. It looked like a toddler found a coloring book, but only had a green marker to use.

Sans turned away from the large bars and gears to something else that caught his eye. There were large, floating rectangles that hovered in the air (also rimmed in green, Sans noted). What was amazing, however, was that each one portrayed a different scene of _him_. There was one screen that showed him and Frisk during it out like before, but next to it was a video of Sans, Frisk, and _Papyrus_ talking amicably around the fireplace, alive and well. Sans wiped his eyes of leaking water on his sleeve as he watched the different things being shown.

"Ahem."

The skeleton whirled around on his heels, startled. His eye glowed blue with magic as he took in the monster that snuck up on him. It – _he_ , judging by the beard – was a blue-skinned creature that looked almost man-like. The main differences, though, were the facts that everything below the waist came together to form a wispy tail, the blood red eyes that bore into Sans, and his chest didn't have a soul in it, but a grandfather clock. "Welcome, Sans," the purple cloak-wearer greeted.

" **uh...hello?** " Sans responded. He took notice of the black staff with a clock on it that the old monster used as a cane. Despite the fact he could float. "who are you?" Sans asked.

"My name is Clockwork, Sans," the newly named Clockwork answered. He adjusted the black gear that acted like a pin for his cloak, before continuing. "I am, what you might call, Father Time."

Sans shook his head. " **i'm sorry, but i'm gonna have to _clock_ out here,** " Sans joked. If he was well enough to tell puns, he was well enough to continue talking to the monster. Sans narrowed his eyes at the blue man and asked, " **what do you want with me? where am i?** "

"As for where _you_ are, Sans," Clockwork answered, "you are in my lair." Clockwork let out a long sigh, like he was tired of a particular book he was reading. Sans watched in fascination as the old timer shrunk to nearly half of his size. The clock-themed creature's skin went from wrinkly to baby skin smooth. Heck, the baby even had buck teeth.

"And as for where _we_ are, we are in the Ghost Zone, home to all ghosts. It is similar to your Underground, but more open." the baby said, gesturing to the area around him. Sans resisted the urge to flinch when the toddler thing's inhuman eyes settled back on him.

" **ghosts, huh. Well, can i speak to my lawyer? 'cuz i know who i'm gonna call,** " Sans said, chuckling to himself.

"Yes, yes, very punny Sans," Clockwork said, sarcastically, "but I believe you asked specifically why you were here."

Sans' grin drooped at the edges, if just a tad bit. " **yeah, that was one of my questions, wasn't it?** " the skeleton confirmed.

"Simply put, the child you were fighting has a very special ability called 'TRUE RESET'," the childlike creature explained. The baby waved its staff, and a new screen floated in front of the undead duo. Sans watched his previous fight with Sans, the expression on his face not changing, but growing more rigid.

The boss monster turned to the ghost of time. " **'true reset'**?" Sans questioned, his tone asking for an answer.

"Yes," Clockwork confirmed. "With this ability, Frisk can reset the timeline to where she first unlocked her own Determination, shortly before meeting Flowey."

" **what, so the brat can kill everyone again!?** " Sans exclaimed, outraged. The smile that was permanently plastered onto his face didn't change, but his eyes narrowed and the magic eye began sparking blue.

Clockwork waved his hand, an effort to calm the skeleton down. "Not so," he said. The purple covered ghost quickly checked a golden pocket watch hanging from his belt, before waving his staff over the screen. Sans watched as the scene changed from Frisk standing in the middle of the great hall, ready to kill, to a different Frisk wandering a cave filled with flowers, looking with hazel eyes full of confusion and fear.

"Frisk has been overshadowed by an entity known as 'Genocide'," Clockwork explained. The new Frisk took a few more steps forward, before her eyes widened. Sans watched, eyes narrowed now in seriousness, as Frisk clutched her stomach and fell to the ground. Almost immediately, she stood back up, and Sans noted her eyes briefly flashed red before settling to a default hazel. Clockwork went on, "After killing her, you freed her soul from it for a short time, so she could reset the timeline."

" **still, i don't get what you need me for,** " Sans said after a moment of silence. He glanced at the ghost, who paid him no attention.

"I come to you with a proposal: do you want me to allow her to or not?" Clockwork asked, voice completely neutral. Before Sans could respond, Clockwork let out another sigh, his body expanding to that of a grown man's. After the ghost's first display, Sans wasn't taken by surprise.

" **are you giving me the choice?** " Sans asked incredulously. He watched the genocidal Frisk walk forward with a purpose, instead of the caution he saw before. _This_ was the Frisk he knew. " **i wanna see the brat dead. why should i let her live?** " Sans continued.

Clockwork spoke, after a few moments of silence. "For one reason, to bring back everyone you've ever seen killed," he said, voice different. After listening to the man/ghost/monster/thing talk neutrally for a while, Sans could quickly pick up the persuasive tone hidden in his speech. Sans took a moment, deeply contemplating.

Sans finally opened his eyes and turned to face Clockwork, looking him dead in the eyes. " **...even pa—** " Sans halfway got out.

"Yes, even him," Clockwork confirmed, cutting the smaller skeleton off. "As well, you will keep your memories of this timeline, to ensure Frisk continues a neutral, or even peaceful path."

" **and how do you plan on ensuring that?** " Sans questioned, not letting the interruption get to him. Let it be known Sans has a _lot_ of patience.

"Simple," Clockwork stated. Once again, the ghost waved his staff. The scene in front of the two changed, in a single moment. Frisk's hostile, aggressive gait stumbled, like she tripped on a rock, and fell. Frisk picked herself back up and began walking again, only, this time, with a much more relaxed and peaceful trot. Sans looked to Clockwork for an elaboration.

"I'm replaced 'Genocide' with a more enlightened entity, known as 'Pacifist'," the watcher of time streams explained. The adult ghost turned to the young skeleton and gifted him with a smile. "I'm certain you'll enjoy his presence more than Genocide's."

Sans sat in silence, pondering the events that had just happened. It was a lot to take in, in such short time, but..." **there's still something i don't get,** " Sans confessed, eyes narrowed in a small mix of confusion and annoyance.

Sans took another deep breath before continuing. " **why did you allow this to happen in the first place if you want frisk to lead a peaceful life? why couldn't you _stopwatch_ -ing and start doing?**" Sans asked, with another pun thrown into the serious question.

Clockwork's grip on the staff visibly tightened. "I was…" the ghost began, before shifting into his grandfatherly form. "...unfortunately busy with something else…" he picked up. The time controlling ghost turned to the corner. There, Sans could see, was an ordinary pedestal that appeared to be made of green stone. Sitting atop it was a silver and radioactive green thermos, with a small indent of a face on it.

Sans turned to the neutral watched in annoyance. " **what? making soup?** " he questioned, sarcasm leaking from his voice.

The grandfather ghost shook his head, in a tired and resigned way. "No. But it is nothing you should worry about, Sans," he waved the skeleton off. As soon as the topic was dismissed, the bearded ghost straightened his back and turned to face Sans. "Have you made your decision?"

Sans let out a great sigh, before turning to the screens. His white eyes scanned the hundreds of possible timelines, before finally settling on the screen of him, his brother, and Frisk sitting around the fireplace. " **yeah,** " Sans said with resignation, ignoring the screaming of his soul telling him to let the kid die.

" **let's give the kid another go.** "

Clockwork let out another sigh and then there was a baby in front of Sans, smirking like he had just beat Sans in an argument. "Alr–" began the ghost named–

"CLOCKWORK!"

Sans jumped up and tensed at the loud voice. He hadn't even noticed how much he let his guard down around the ghost. " **uh...what was that?** " the skeleton questioned.

"They're early," the ghost muttered.

"Observants," Clockwork explained. He glanced around, nervously, before ushering Sans over. The time-controlling ghost tapped his staff on the ground, opening a swirling green vortex in front of Sans. If he peered closely, he thought he could see Snowdin. "Quickly, you must go before they find you," Clockwork ushered.

The ghost blinked before gliding over to a wall. Sans watched him pick up a golden chain, with a gear at the center with the initials 'CW'. The ghost zipped back to Sans before placing it on him, like a necklace. "Take this with you," Clockwork said, hurriedly. "Do not take it off. You will now be aware of any future Resets."

" **woah, wait,** " Sans said, shaking his head. He tried to step forward, and looked up to the ghost he only recently met. " **what do you mean fut—** "

Clockwork cut Sans off, and pushed him into the portal. Sans let out a squawk of indignation, before falling through and landing in a snowdrift. The skeleton looked up in confusion and annoyance, trying to get his bearings straight.

 **C====3**

The blue-skinned, cloak-wearing time ghost watched in interest as a skeleton in a blue hoodie and slippers picked his self out of the snow. Sans brushed the snow off of his white t-shirt, before looking around. Eventually, the boss monster came to the conclusion he was, indeed, outside of Snowdin, and began his trek to the city. Clockwork smirked at the idea of the skeleton's face upon seeing his brother, the once-dead Papyrus, alive and well.

"Clockwork…" a voice called out, quiet and hesitant. "Was that acting really necessary?" the once faux-angry owner of the voice came out from hiding behind a large pillar and floated over to the old time ghost, who was watching the time streams. The new ghost was extremely thin, with green skin and clawed hands. It was wearing a white and gold priest robe that had been modified to include an enormous black collar and a red cape. The Observant turned to Clockwork, resting the single eye that took up its face on the ancient ghost, waiting for a response.

"Yes, quite," Clockwork confirmed. He watched multiple screens, some of Frisk and Sans fighting and some of them walking through Snowdin. One particular screen even showed the human and skeleton kissing. "If not, I would have had to go through fourteen atrocious puns before he left. Sans should really work on his material."

The Observant, wrinkling the skin around its eye, gave the Master of Time a tired stare, one Clockwork persistently ignored.

"After all," the ghost said, shifting into his grandfather form. The Observant groaned, closing its eye. The almost-ever-watching being rested its head in its hand. "Don't…" it protested, in vain.

"Now he has nothing but time."

"Pariah damn it, Clockwork!" 

**C====3**

 **(A/N): 'Ello there! Don't mind lil' ol' me, just attempting to write a new crossover. It's a step up from my previous one!shot, 'cuz I'm trying to get punny enough to use this style of writing with WPAF (go check it out! [shameless self-advertisement]). So, yeah. Little DPxU crossover that I had some fun with. I'm trying to find my inner Sans to shove another pun-filled chapter into WPAF. So... Enjoy!**

 **** **~Slenderbrine**


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